Treasure and a cute techie aka success!
by smoking caramels
Summary: Elizabeth Chase thought that visiting her sister would merely lead to pleasant days spent in Washington DC. Instead she was dragged along on a treasure hunt. But when you find treasure AND a cute guy, what more could a girl want? AbigailxBen RileyxOC
1. Enter the Main Cast

**Disclaimer:**_ I do not own National Treasure, just Elizabeth._

**Chapter One**

"But I don't want to file! It's boring! Why can't I go look at all the documents?" Elizabeth whined to her older sister.  
"Because, you'll probably end up catching them on fire or something like that," Abigail replied, not even looking up from her paperwork.

The Chase sisters were at the Archives. Elizabeth had time off from her work in Egypt and was spending it with her older sister. She had already done all the touristy things there were to do in D.C, except see the Declaration of Independence and other documents.

Elizabeth huffed and picked at the edge of her black tank top. She swung her feet back and forth, watching the patterns she had drawn on her high-top converses swirl around. She began to pull on a string attached to her tan short, at least until Abigail smacked her hand muttering about how little sisters could never sit still.

"Dr. Chase?" the secretary asked, popping her head in the doorway. Both women looked up.  
"Yes?" Abigail asked.  
"There are two men to see you. They say they have urgent news to discuss with you."  
"Alright, let them in." Abigail said only to have the phone ring at that moment. "Hello? I have a meeting right now, could I call you back later?" she asked as two young men walked in.

"...Very cute men." one of them muttered.

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow and stood to greet them, her blue eyes sparkling.

"Hi! My name is Elizabeth Chase, sister to Dr. Chase, who you probably wanted to meet with in the first place." she said shaking both of their hands.  
"Oh cool! I love your shoes!" she squealed, looking at Riley's converses. Many different things were written on them with little drawings here and there.  
"Tha-thanks! Yours are pretty nifty too." he replied eyeing hers up.

"All right, thank-you," Abigail said, finishing up her phone conversation. "Good afternoon." she said turning her attention to the two men in her office. "Abigail Chase." she said shaking Ben's hand.  
"Paul Brown." he said.  
"Nice to meet you." she murmured and turned her attention to Riley.  
"Bill." he said with uncertainty.

Elizabeth raised an eyebrow and giggled at his strangeness. Riley glared at her and returned the handshake.

"Nice to meet you... Bill," Abigail said with doubt and gave him a weird look.  
"Now," she said moving back behind her desk, "How may I help you?"  
"Your accent... Pennsylvania Dutch?" Ben asked.  
"Saxony-German," she replied smoothly.  
"Oh." he said.

"You're not American?" Riley asked rudely.  
Elizabeth burst into laughter and received a nudge from her sister to shut up and a glare from Riley.  
"Oh, I'm American, I just wasn't born here," Abigail said firmly.

"And yours, it sounds middle-eastern. But you said you two are sisters." Ben asked, a little puzzled.  
"Oh, we're sisters. I work in Egypt translating and preserving hieroglyphics. I'm on leave right now so I can spend some buddy-buddy time with my sister!" Elizabeth answered brightly, giving her sister a noogie.

"Gerruff!" Abigail shrieked and pushed Elizabeth away. "Please don't touch that." Abigail said feeling very harried at this point, to Ben who was looking at her collection of buttons on the mantel.

"Sorry," he said sheepishly. "Neat collection. George Washington's campaign buttons. You're missing the 1789 inaugural though," he said tapping at a gap where it should be. "I found one once."  
"That's very fortunate for you," she said unimpressed. "Now, you told my secretary you had urgent news for me," she said seriously.  
"Ah, yes ma'am," he said, sitting down. Riley sat next to him as Abigail also sat down. Elizabeth sat on the edge of her sister's desk.  
"Well, I'm going to get right to the point. Someone is going to steal the Declaration of Independence," he said, super serious.  
Abigail looked to Riley. "It's true," he said.  
"I think I better put you gentlemen through to the FBI-"Abigail said, reaching for the phone.  
"We've already been to the FBI." Riley said.  
"And?" she asked.  
"And they assured us the Declaration cannot possibly be stolen," he replied, putting on an air of mocking someone. Elizabeth smiled at him to which he returned it.  
"They're right," Abigail simply stated and leaned back in her chair.  
"My friend and I are less certain. However, if we were given the privilege of examining the document, we would be able to tell you for certain if it were in any danger," Ben said quickly, finishing up and leaning back in his chair.

"And what exactly do you think you're going to find?" Abigail asked.  
"We believe there to be an encryption on the back," Ben said, a little uncomfortably.  
"An encryption of what?" Abigail asked, as though talking to a little child.  
"Um... a cartograph," he answered, squirming a bit.  
"A map?" she asked a little confused.  
"Yes, ma'am," he answered.  
"A map a what?" she probed further.  
"The location of... uh," he cleared his throat nervously. "Of items of historic and intrinsic value.  
"A... treasure map?" she asked unbelieving.  
"That's where we lost the FBI," Riley muttered.  
"You're treasure hunters, aren't you?" Abigail asked little triumphantly.

Ben and Riley looked at each other.  
"We're more like treasure... protectors," Ben said.  
"Well, I've never seen the back so it's possible," Elizabeth interjected empathetically, patting Riley on the back. He shot her a small smile.  
"Mr. Brown," Abigail said, a little louder to make a point to her younger sister, "I have personally seen the back of the Declaration of Independence, and I promise you the only thing on there is a little notation that reads 'original declaration of independence dated-"  
"4th of July, 1776. Yes ma'am," Ben finished.  
"But no map," she stated.

Ben looked at Riley for help who only shrugged.  
"...It's... invisible..." he muttered.  
"...Oh... right," she said, clearly disbelieving.  
"And that's where we lost the Department of Homeland security," Riley muttered.

Moments passed. "Well, if it's invisible, than that explains some things," Elizabeth said brightly.  
"Oh come off it Lizzie! Of course there is no map! It's ludicrous!" Abigail snapped elbowing her.  
"Ow! Bloody prick..." Elizabeth whined, rubbing her side.

Ignoring her younger sister, Abigail continued, "And what led you to believe there's an invisible map?"  
"We found an engraving on the stem of a 200 year old pipe," Ben said.  
"Owned by Free Masons," Riley muttered keeping his head in his hands.  
"May I see the pipe?" Abigail asked.  
"We, uh, don't have it..." Ben muttered.

Abigail leaned forward on her desk and theatrically whispered, "Did Bigfoot take it?"  
Elizabeth opened her mouth to retort but Ben beat her to it.  
"It was nice meeting you," he said standing up brusquely.  
"Nice to meet you too," Abigail said not moving from her position.  
"Lovely break in the day!" said Elizabeth jumping off the desk.  
"You know that really is a nice collection." Ben said, referring to Abigail's button collection. "It must have taken you a long time to hunt down all that history."

Elizabeth grabbed Riley's arm as he went to follow Ben out the door. "If it's any consolation to you, you have me convinced," she whispered in his ear so Abigail couldn't hear.  
"Thanks," he whispered back and left.

A few moments passed. "Well, I'm going to get lunch, want to join me?" Elizabeth asked her older sister.  
"No, you go on ahead. I need to finish up some stuff here at the office, Abigail said.  
"Suit yourself," Elizabeth muttered and skipped out of the room.

_'Well__ that was certainly an interesting conversation; they both seemed so serious... Could there really be an invisible map on the back of he Declaration of Independence?'_ Elizabeth thought to herself. _'I wonder if I'll ever see Bill again. He seems like a sweet and funny guy.'_


	2. Enter the Villain

**Disclaimer: **_I do not own National Treasure, just Elizabeth._

**Chapter Two**

Elizabeth skipped down the hall and out the building. Slowing to a halt, she looked around for any sign of 'Mr. Brown' or 'Bill'. Seeing neither of them, she shrugged and hailed a taxi to a small little cafe up a ways from the Archives. Stepping out from the cab, she scurried into the cafe named **Cafe Coffee!**.

_'Cheesy little name, but it's cheaper than Starbucks, that's for sure!' _Elizabeth thought as she ordered a chocolate chip cookie and a mocha drink. Sitting down, she melted into her thoughts and a comfy, mushy chair thing.

_'I wonder... were Bill and Mr. Brown telling the truth? The map could be made with invisible ink. It is plausible. But what is it a map to? And why are they treasure protectors? That's a little weird-'_  
"Excuse me, may I sit here?" a rugged looking man asked pointing to a small mushy chair thing by hers. Elizabeth merely shrugged and continued eating her cookie.  
"My name is Isaac Howard," he says extending his hand. Elizabeth raised her eyebrows but shook his hand nonetheless.

Isaac had blonde, shaggy hair with a rugged face and big build. He was wearing slacks and a navy blue sweater. "Dr. Elizabeth Chase," she said, gently shaking his hand.  
_'I wish I had some hand sanitizer...' _she thought wistfully.  
"So what is a pretty lady like you doing at a coffee shop all by her lonesome?" he asked slyly.  
_'Ew, pervert alert.'_ she thought mentally cringing.  
"Just taking a lunch break... You?" she asked just to be polite.  
"I guess you could say the same thing," he said smiling.  
"You aren't a local, are you?" she said just to keep him away from the subject of her.  
"Well, neither are you, but yes, I'm not a local. What brings you here?" he asked.  
"Just visiting my sister. You?" she asked.  
"Doing a little... research. On historical documents," he said slowly, thinking over his words.  
"Really? Like what? My sister works in the Archives. It's a pretty cool place... If only she would let me see all the top-secret documents. I just know there's one about Area 51... " she muttered the last sentence.  
"Really now," he said thinking. "That's very interesting. Very interesting indeed." he muttered.

_'Freaky much...'_ Elizabeth thought. "Well, I better be going back. My sister will be calling the police if I'm not back in... 7 minutes," she said glancing at her watch and standing up to leave.  
"Well, it was nice meeting you Elizabeth. Maybe we'll meet again," he said mysteriously.  
"Yeah... maybe," she said, walking away.  
"It was nice meeting you," he said following her.  
"Yes, nice meeting you too," she replied evasively, walking outside and hailing a taxi.  
"See you later Elizabeth," he whispered leaning over the open door to the taxi.  
"...Yeah..." she whispered back, very red in the face and scurrying into the cab.  
Isaac shut the cab door and waved as it sped off. _'...Very creepy...'_

"Hey, Lizzie! How was your lunch break?" Abigail asked.  
Elizabeth looked up as though snapped out of her thoughts.  
"...Oh... It was okay." she said and went over to the cabinet.  
"What are you doing?" Abigail asked suspiciously.  
"Filing paperwork," came the soft reply.  
"You feeling alright?" Abigail asked, concern creeping into her voice.  
"Yeah, yeah I'm fine," she muttered.


	3. The Gala

**Disclaimer:** _I do not own National Treasure, just Elizabeth._

**Chapter Three**

_Note: I have a picture of the dress in my profile._

The Chase sisters were at Abigail's apartment, getting ready for the gala at the Archives.

"Do I HAVE to wear a dress?" Elizabeth whined, following her sister around the house.  
"Yes! You HAVE to. Now stop badgering me and put it on!" Abigail hissed in exasperation.  
"Fine..." Elizabeth muttered.

She wandered into the extra bedroom where she was staying and took the dress out of the bag. Her eyes widened in surprise. It was gorgeous! She just assumed that it would be horrible... Well, it certainly wasn't! It was knee length, black with gauzy fabric over the skirt portion. Her shoes were high heels with ankle straps and rhine stones going up strap.

Trying on the dress, she found it was even more beautiful on her than on the hanger.

"So how do you like it, little miss _'I hate dresses so much'_?" Abigail asked, trying to suppress a smile.  
"I LOVE IT!" Elizabeth squealed, twirling around in front of a mirror.  
"Well, we need to be going so hurry up!" Abigail reminded her younger sister.  
"Mmkay..." Elizabeth murmured, walking into the bathroom.

She pulled some of her hair up into a complex bun, leaving two strands of hair down in the front. _'Makeup?'_ she thought, _'Nah, why bother? It's not as if Bill will be there...'_ Running out to the door, the Chase sisters quickly left for the ball.

When they arrived at the Archives, they went through the appropriate safety procedures. After that was said and done, they headed out to mingle with the masses.

"Man... It sure is boring here. Remind why I came again?" Elizabeth muttered.  
"You behave. Don't ruin a perfectly perfect night," Abigail replied.  
"It would be so much more perfect if Bill was here..." Elizabeth snapped back.  
"Yea right..." Abigail snorted.  
"Well, I'm sure you'd enjoy it more if Paul Brown was here!" Elizabeth snickered, "I saw that little present that he sent you..." and with that she disappeared into the crowd to let her sister mull over what she had said.

She wandered around for a while until she saw her sister talking to none other than Paul Brown.  
_'I SO told her,'_ she thought smirking, sidling up to her sister and bumping her hip so she was forced away from Mr. Brown.  
"Well hello there Mr. Brown. I'll cut to the chase; is Bill here? I'm bored and need someone to sulk with," she said abruptly.  
"I'm sorry for my sister's rude behavior Mr. Paul." Abigail said, shoving her sister out of the way, "But what were you saying?"  
Ben raised an eyebrow at the sisters' behavior, chuckling to himself, and answered, "I was saying that you needed it," he said smiling.  
Elizabeth rolled her eyes and stood by her sister's side taking his silence as a _'No.'_.  
"I've been wondering though, what the engraving indicated on the pipe that Bigfoot took," she asks him coyly.  
Elizabeth muttered "Get a room..."

"Hi," interjected a slightly nervous man.  
"Oh, Dr. Herbert, this is Mr. Brown," Abigail said to Paul.  
"Hi," Dr. Herbert said a little nervously, eyeing him up.  
"Hi there," replied Ben respectfully.

Elizabeth merely rolls her eyes. _'It's as though they think Abby is their territory... I should totally hug her and inform them that we are lovers, but she might hit me...'_ she thinks smirking slightly.  
"Here," Ben said taking Abigail's champagne glass from the bottom, "why don't you let me take that... so you can take that," he indicated towards Dr. Herbert's glass obviously for Abigail, "off his hands."

_'Score one for Paul, zero for Dr. Herbert,'_ Elizabeth thought. Abigail took the champagne with a polite, "Thank you."  
"How about a toast, yeah?" Ben said raising his glass, as do Dr. Herbert and Abigail.  
_'Typical, no one gives me any champagne...'_ Elizabeth thought with a pout.  
"To high treason," Ben said proudly.  
Everyone looks at him strangely. "That's what these men committed when they signed the Declaration. Had we lost the war, they would have been hanged, beheaded, drawn and quartered, and oh, my personal favorite; they would have had their entrails cut out and burned!" he says laughing a little.

Abigail and Dr. Herbert look at him thoughtfully while Elizabeth tried not to laugh out loud. _'Well, at least he knows how to give a toast... I'd love to see him at a wedding giving one,'_ Elizabeth thought gleefully.  
"So here's to the men who did everything that was considered wrong, in order to do what they knew was right... What they knew was right..." he whispered the last little bit towards Abigail.  
Abigail and Dr. Herbert take a sip of their champagne while Ben drains his completely. Elizabeth pouted at the lack of drink.  
"Well, good night!" Ben said and walked off a little distractedly.  
"Good night," Dr. Herbert and Abigail said.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes at her sister's dreamy expression. "Dr. Chase, would you like-" Dr. Herbert started to say, but at Abigail's panicked expression, Elizabeth interrupted. "Terribly sorry, old bean, but Abby and I must go! Girly things to discuss! Don't wait up dear heart!" she chirped, dragging her sister away.  
"Thanks Lizzy. John is... nice, but not my type," Abigail muttered.  
"No problemo! I'm here to help! But, how 'bout Paul's behavior? Kinda weird if you ask me," she said.  
"You're right, let's find Rebecca." Abigail said, leading her sister off to wherever Rebecca might be.  
"And who might this Rebecca be?" Elizabeth asked repeatedly.  
"She's in charge of the list of attendees," Abigail answered absentmindedly after awhile of pestering from Elizabeth.  
"Ohh! You're going to see if he really is a guest! But what would he be doing here if he weren't a guest? Obviously he wasn't here to woo you since," Elizabeth ducked her sister's elbow, "he didn't stick around that long."  
"Whatever," Abigail grumbled, ignoring her sister.

"Hey Rebecca," Abigail greeted cheerfully to a young woman around her age, "Do you have a 'Paul Brown' on that list?"  
"Paul Brown?" she asked, leafing through an extensive list, "No, not here."  
"Strange," Elizabeth muttered.  
"It is... let's find 'Mr. Brown' and ask him," Abigail said, moving into the crowd. The sisters walked around trying to find him with no luck until Abigail spotted him moving quickly down the stairs.

"Let's go," Abigail muttered.  
"Righto!" Elizabeth replied brightly.

They quickly followed him down the stairs and out a side door of the Archives. He walked quickly to a red van and put something that looked a tube in the back.

"Hey," Abigail greeted warily.  
"What was that?" Elizabeth asked, tapping her foot on the pavement.  
"Oh, it's you two. Hello," he said nervously.  
"Mr. Brown, what's going on? What's that?" Abigail asked suspiciously.  
"It's a souvenir," he replied, shifting his weight from foot to foot.  
"Really?" Abigail said raising her eyebrow.  
"As if..." Elizabeth shot back.

_'Why does that look like a very important document...? Let me think... Because it is!'_ she thought.

"Did you enjoy the party?" he asked, sweating a little.  
"Yeah..." the sisters replied skeptically.

All of a sudden, alarms go off in the Archive Building and Ben slapped a hand to his forehead.

"Oh my god! You did not!" Abigail yelled.  
"Security!!" Elizabeth shouted.  
"Gimme that!" Abigail growled, grabbing the document from his hands.

Elizabeth and Abigail quickly ran over to the Archives. All of a sudden, a big blue van swerved right in front of them, cutting them off. Some men got out and tried to snatch the document. The men grabbed Abigail as a gunshot was fired at Ben.

"ABBY! THROW IT!" Elizabeth shrieked. Abigail tossed it to her sister as she was pulled into the van. She made a break towards Ben's van knowing that he, at least, wouldn't attack her. A gunshot went off.

"ELIZABETH!"


	4. Introductions

**Disclaimer:**_ I do not own National Treasure, just Elizabeth._

**Chapter Four**

Elizabeth fell to the ground, shell-shocked.  
_'A-Am I-I hi-hit?'_ was all that ran through her mind.  
Abigail was able to escape. Grabbing the document, she grabbed her sister's arm and ran towards Ben's van. Elizabeth was suddenly snapped back to reality.  
_'I'm alright! I'm not hurt!'_ she thought gleefully as she continued to run to Ben's van.

But Abigail was wrenched away from her just as Ben ran out to meet them. He in turn wrenched Elizabeth away. The two men glared at each other and ran back to their respective vans, taking off tires squealing.

"Go! Go!" Ben yelled at Riley, who floored it after the van with Abigail and the declaration in it.  
"Once we catch them, what do we do?" Riley asked Ben.  
"I'm working on it!" Ben snapped.

Turning towards Elizabeth he asked gently, "Are you alright?"  
Her head snapped up, "Oh, yeah... I wasn't hit. How are we going to get Abby back?" she asked softly.  
"We'll get her back, I promise," Ben said patting her shoulder.

He moved up behind Riley to see the van skid around a corner. They followed suite and nearly ran over a police car in the process.

"Right turn, right turn..." Riley muttered, following the van into a construction zone. Both vans blasted threw it, Riley's van following Ian's at every turn. "Skidding, skidding, skidding!" he exclaimed as he skidded out of the construction zone, making a right turn onto a street. As they did so, the back door to Ian's van flied open with Abigail attached to it.

"Oh no," Ben muttered making his way to the side of the van and opening the side door.  
"Holy Lord," muttered Riley.  
"Oh my god Abby!" exclaimed Elizabeth, covering her mouth with her hands.

Someone in the van started to shoot at Riley's van but was stopped by Ian who yelled at him pointing at Abigail and the Declaration.

Elizabeth gasped, "That's Isaac! Researching historical documents my foot!"  
"Get me next to her!" Ben yelled at Riley.

Riley quickly moved the van into opposing traffic and got as close as possible to the side of the van. Suddenly, a bus came at them, blasting its horn. Riley quickly pulled the van to the left. Ben tried to reach out to Abigail, but the door swung back towards Ian who grabbed the document. The door swung back out and Ben quickly grabbed her arm and pulled her into the van as shots were fired.

"Are you alright?" Ben asked Abigail, as Elizabeth launched herself at her sister and hugged her to death.  
"No!" she yelled, "Those lunatics... they stole the-"  
"You're not hurt are you?" he probed further.  
"You're all lunatics," she yelled.  
"You hungry?" Ben asked again trying to calm her down.  
"What?!" she shrieked, totally flabbergasted.  
"Are you alright?" he repeated gently.  
"Still a little on edge from being shot at, but I'll be okay. Thanks for asking," Riley replied nonchalantly from the front seat.

Elizabeth moved off of her sister as she and Ben kept arguing and carefully moved up behind Riley.  
"Are you alright?" she asked softly.  
He looked back at her and replied, his eyes softening, "Yeah, I'm fine. How about you? You were shot at..."  
"I'm fine, I was just a little shell-shocked at having a gun go off right in my ear," she replied, grinning slightly.  
"I-I'm glad," Riley said softly.

"Yeah, well, I'm not alright. Those men have the Declaration of Independence!" Abigail shrieked.  
"She lost it?!" Riley yelled.  
"They don't have it," Ben said grabbing a white tube and opening it slightly to show the document.  
"See? Okay? Now will you please stop shouting?" he asked, putting it back.  
"Give me that!" Abigail screeched, lunging for it but Ben pulled it out of her reach.

He took the document with him up to the front seat where he sat by Riley. "You're still shouting. And it's starting to annoy me," he said.  
"It's alright Abby. Just calm down," Elizabeth said soothingly to her distraught sister.  
"You'd do well, Dr. Chase, to be a bit more civilized in this instance," Ben reminded her.  
"If this is the real one, what did they get?" she asked, substantially calmer, and sat behind Ben.  
"A souvenir. I thought it would be a good idea to have a duplicate. It turned out I was right. I actually had to pay for the souvenir and the real one, so you owe me 35 dollars, plus tax," he said smugly.  
"Genius," said Riley grinning from ear to ear.  
"Who were those men?" Abigail asked.  
"Just the guys we warned you were going to steal the Declaration," he said, even smugger.  
"And yoouuu didn't believe us!" said Riley tauntingly.  
"So we did the only thing we could to keep it safe," Ben finished.  
"Ver... dammnit! Give me that!" Abigail shouted, trying to grab the document.  
"You know something? You're shouting again," he said.

"Abby," Elizabeth whispered.  
Abigail turned her head towards her sister. "Wait until we have a chance to get it," she mouthed. Abigail nodded her head slightly.

"I'm pretty sure she was swearing too," Riley commented.  
"Well, we probably deserve that," Ben said.  
"More like, definitely," Elizabeth said, lightly smacking the back of Riley's head.  
"There is not a treasure map on the back of the Declaration of Independence," Abigail said more than exasperated at this point.  
"And there's no chance anyone can steal this either!" Ben exclaimed, shaking the tube. "I leveled with you 100. Everything I told you was the truth," he said.  
"I want that document Mr. Brown," Abigail growled.  
"Okay, my name's not Brown. It's Gates. I leveled with you 98 percent," Ben said, shifting uncomfortably.  
"Wait a minute. Did you just say 'Gates'?" she asked.  
Riley cringed.  
"Gates? You're that family with the conspiracy theory about the founding fathers!" she said triumphantly.  
"It's NOT a conspiracy theory," Ben muttered.  
"...Per se..." Riley muttered.  
"You know what? I take it back. You're not liars. You're insane!" Abigail said angrily.  
"I might have to agree..." Elizabeth muttered.

"You can't seriously intend to run chemical tests on the Declaration of Independence, in the back of a moving van," Abigail suddenly exclaimed.  
Elizabeth's eyes widened, "That document is over 200 hundred years old! It would be damaged beyond repair!" she exclaimed.  
"We have a clean environment all set up," Ben said.  
"ETS suits, particle filtration system, the whole shebang," Riley said victoriously.  
"Really?" Abigail asked, rather interested now.  
"So cool," Elizabeth muttered.  
"We can't go back there," Ben said quietly.  
"What? Why not?" Riley asked, a little alarmed.  
"I uh, paid with a credit card..." Ben muttered.  
"A credit card slip? Dude, we're on the grid! They'll have your records from forever. They'll have MY records from forever!" he all but yelled.  
"I know. I know. It's only a matter of minutes before the FBI shows up at my front door," Ben said, holding his head in his hands.  
"What do we do?" Riley asked.  
"We need those letters..." Ben muttered.  
"What letters?" Elizabeth and Abigail asked at the same time.  
"You know, get off the road; take a right," Ben commanded.  
"What letters?!" Abigail asked more forcibly.

Riley continued to drive until they reached a park across from the Jefferson monument. He parked on the grass and turned the van off. Ben got out of the van and started to pace with the Declaration in hand. Riley moved to the passenger seat and Elizabeth and Abigail sat in the side opening of the van.

"So what's your real name if you aren't Bill anymore?" Elizabeth asked Riley while Ben explained to Abigail about the Silence Dogood letters.  
"I'm Riley Poole." Riley said looking at her.  
"Riley eh? Cool name." Elizabeth said.  
Riley mutters a "thank-you" as Abigail began to speak.

"You have the original Silence Dogood letters? Did you steal those too?"  
"We have scans of the original," he said distractedly, "Quiet please."  
"How'd you get scans?" Elizabeth challenged him.  
"Oh, I know the person who has the originals. Now shush," he said growing irritated.  
"Why do you need them?" Abigail couldn't help but ask.  
"She really can't shut her mouth, can she?" he asked Riley who merely shook his head exasperatedly.  
"I'll tell you what, look. I will let you hold onto this, if you'll just shut up. Please," he said handing her the Declaration.

The sisters gave each other side ways glances and slowly took of their heels with their feet.  
"Ben, you know what you have to do?" Riley asked.  
"I know what to do. I'm just trying to think of anything else we could do," he replied testily.  
"Well, not to be a... nudge, but you do know how many people we have after us. We probably have our own satellite by now... It took you all of two seconds to decide to steal the Declaration of Independence-" Riley said to Ben.  
"Yeah, but I didn't think I was gonna personally have to tell my dad about it," Ben finished dramatically.

Abigail and Elizabeth looked at each and took off running as fast as they could. Ben took off after them and Riley scrambled out of the van in pursuit. Ben caught up and tackled Abigail who threw the declaration to Elizabeth who dropped it and slipped on the ground trying to turn around and pick it up. This, in turn, caused Riley, who had been running rather fast to tackle her, to trip over her and fall flat on her. Elizabeth tried to remedy the situation by throwing the declaration to her sister, who did catch it, but is in turn caught by Ben.

_'Dammit!! I'm such a friggin' klutz!'_ Elizabeth yelled at herself as she blinked rapidly to clear her foggy vision. _'I must have hit my head, it hurts like hell and I can't see worth crap.'_  
Riley moaned in pain and shifted his weight so it was like he was doing a push up over top of Elizabeth. He shook his head to clear his vision as Ben and Abigail went at it.

"Let me go!" she yelled, trying to yank the Declaration away from Ben. He was too strong for her and got a hold of it.  
"Okay. You're let go. Go, shoo!" he exclaimed, waving her off.  
"I'm not going. NOT without the Declaration," she growled.  
"You're not going WITH the Declaration," he growled back, all the while, there faces got closer.  
"Yes, I am. I'm not letting it out of my sight, so I'm going," she said.  
"Wait. You're not going with us with the Declaration." he said.  
"Yes, I am."  
"No, you're not."  
"Look, if you wanted to leave me behind, you shouldn't have told me where you were going," she said victoriously.

"Are you two okay?" asked Abigail, rather concerned about their prostrate forms.

Ben and Abigail had come to the agreement that Abigail and Elizabeth would come along so as not to leave the declaration with Riley and Ben so in turn, Abigail and Elizabeth wouldn't be able to give away the location they were going to. They walked over to Riley who had collapsed, clutching his head on top of a dazed and confused Elizabeth. Riley merely groaned in response and Elizabeth just stared dreamily around.

"I think he hit his head," Ben said, helping Riley off of Elizabeth.  
"Hit would be the understatement of the year! I would say that I cracked my head open. Slammed it into a rock; pulverized it to death; shot it open; ripped-" Riley rambled, clutching his bleeding head.  
"We get the point, Riley," Abigail muttered, helping Elizabeth off the ground. "Oh honey! Your head is bleeding!" she exclaimed, wiping away blood from the back of her head.  
"More like gushing blood. More like spouting, oozing, cascading-" Elizabeth mumbled.  
"We get the point Elizabeth," Ben muttered.

The two laid in the back of the van, their wounds treated, as Ben drove to his father's house and Abigail sat up front.  
"What an adventure. I thought for sure that gun was going to hurt me, not the ground," Elizabeth said quietly.  
"Same here... Same here," Riley replied tiredly.


	5. Ottendorf Cipher

**Disclaimer:**_ I do not own National Treasure, just Elizabeth._

**Chapter Five**

"Looks okay..." Riley commented, gazing at a white house.

Ben had driven up to Philadelphia to his Dad's house, which they were currently in front of.

"Park a couple of blocks away." Ben said looking around uneasily.  
"How long do you think we've got?" Riley asked Ben.  
"I'm going to give them a couple of hours. At least, I hope." Ben muttered, loosening his tie.

Riley moved the van away from the house.

"What do we do about them?" Riley asked, gesturing towards the Chase sisters.  
"I've got some duct tape in the back..."  
The girls' eyes widened.  
"No, that won't be necessary. You two won't be any trouble. Promise you won't be any trouble?" Ben asked them.  
"We promise." they replied, rolling their eyes.  
"See? They're curious." he said satisfied that they'll 'behave'.

Riley parked the van and they all jumped out and walked up to Ben's house. Ben and Abigail reached the door first with Riley and Elizabeth in tow. He rang the doorbell and fixed himself up a bit, shifting nervously. An old man opened the door and stared at everyone.

"Dad." Ben said warmly.  
"Where's the party?" he asked suspiciously.  
"Well... I'm in a little trouble." Ben started.  
"Is she pregnant?" he asked immediately.  
Elizabeth snickered.  
"Well, if she is, are you going to leave the woman carrying your grandchild standing out in the cold?" Ben said, trying not to smile too much.  
"I look pregnant?" Abigail asked, whispering to Elizabeth.

She merely shook her head 'no' smiling. Mr. Gates gestured them all inside. Riley let Elizabeth through the door and followed suit, closing it. Mr. Gates stopped them and asked Riley, "Is she pregnant too?"  
Elizabeth started to choke on her spit. Riley put his arm around her shoulders, resting his head on top and replied; "Now how did you know?"  
The elderly man merely shrugged and walked after his son and Abigail.  
Elizabeth turned to Riley, "What did you say that for?!" she squeaked.  
He shrugged and replied, "Meh, can't a guy dream?" and walked off after Ben.  
Elizabeth stood in the foyer of the Gates house for a couple seconds before turning bright red and running after Riley hissing, "Riley Poole!"

"This better not be about that dumb treasure." Mr. Gates muttered in the kitchen while everyone stood around awkwardly.  
"There's some pizza. It's still warm, I think." he said, looking through his kitchen.  
"Dad..." Ben started, "I need the Silence Dogood letters."  
Mr. Gates stiffened and whirled around angrily at Ben.  
"Yeah, it's about the treasure."  
"And he dragged you three into this nonsense?" he asked Abigail, Elizabeth, and Riley.  
"Literally." the girls muttered.  
"I volunteered!" Riley said, pride creeping into his voice.  
"Well, un-volunteer, before you waste your life." came the surly reply.  
"Knock it off, Dad." Ben muttered.

Riley snuck over to the table and grabbed a piece of pizza.  
"Sure, sure, I know, I'm the family kook," Mr. Gates snapped, getting more and more worked up. "I have a job, a house, health insurance. At least I had your mother, for however brief a time. At least I had you. What do you have? Him?" he said gesturing to Riley who was eating some pizza.

Elizabeth smacked his arm and nabbed the pizza. "I'm eating for two," she said coyly. Riley stuck his tongue out and grabbed another slice.

"Look, if you just give us the letters, we're gone." Ben said trying to pacify the man.  
"You disappoint me, Ben." Mr. Gates replied dejectedly.  
"Well, maybe that's the real Gates-family legacy: sons who disappoint their fathers." Ben snapped.  
"Get out. Take your troubles with you." he said, turning away from the group.

"I found the Charlotte." Ben whispered.  
The elderly man froze and looked at Ben, "The Charlotte? You mean she was a ship?" he asked interested now.  
"Yeah, she was beautiful." Ben said wistfully.  
"Yeah, if you like people trying to blow you up in the ship." Riley muttered.  
"It was amazing Dad." Ben said fondly.  
"And the treasure?" Mr. Gates asked hopefully.  
"No, no. But we found another clue that led us here." Ben said quickly.  
"Yeah, and that'll lead you to another clue. And that's all you'll ever find, is another clue. Don't you get it, Ben? I finally figured it out. The legend says that the treasure was buried to keep it from the British. But what really happened was the legend was invented, to keep the British occupied searching for buried treasure. The treasure is a myth." he finished dramatically.  
"I refuse to believe that." Ben said sighing.  
Mr. Gates walked up to him and looked him the eye, "Well, you can believe what you want. You're a grown person. What am I doing? Do what you want, Ben... Do what you want." and he walked away.

"He's probably right. You don't even know if there is another clue." Abigail said pointedly.  
"Well, I can think of a way where we could find out. And we can find out right now." Ben said, getting excited.

Abigail and Ben grabbed some lemons and water glasses. Elizabeth was getting the Q-tips and gloves while Riley set up the dining room table with plastic bags. Everyone gently laid the Declaration down on the table and stared at it, unsure of what to do next.

"Looks like animal skin. How old is it?" asked Mr. Gates.  
"At least 200 years." Ben said still staring at the document.  
"Really? You sure?" he asked, rather curious about the whole situation.  
"Pretty darn." Ben muttered, getting slightly exasperated.

"Now if this thing's in invisible ink, how do we look at it?" Riley asked.  
"Wave our hands over it and say the magic words?" Elizabeth asked giggling.  
Riley stuck his tongue out and elbowed her in the side.  
"That's no way to treat the mother of your child Riley." she said tauntingly.  
He just pouted while she giggled.

"Throw it in the oven." Mr. Gates said as though it were the simplest matter ever.  
"No!" said Ben and Abigail, their eyes widening at the horrific thought.  
"Uh-uh," squeaked Riley and Elizabeth, shaking their heads in horror.  
"Ferrous sulphate inks can only be brought out with heat." Mr. Gates clarified.  
"Yes, but this..." Abigail started to say.  
"It's very old. This is very old, and we can't risk compromising the map." Ben said delicately.  
"You need a reagent." Mr. Gates replied, walking into the kitchen.  
"Dad, it's really late. Why don't you get some rest?" Ben called to his dad.  
"I'm fine."

Elizabeth rolled her eyes smiling.  
"Lemons." Ben said to Riley who handed the bowl of them to him.  
Ben picked one up and was about to squeeze it over the document when Abigail's hand shot out and grabbed his wrist.  
"You can't do that." she said, getting rather close.  
"But it has to be done." he replied softly.  
"Then someone who is trained to handle antique documents is going do it." she said decisively.  
"Okay." Ben murmured, staring at her.  
"Okay, now, if there is a secret message, it'll probably be marked by a symbol in the upper right-hand corner." Abigail said, positioning herself over the document.  
"That's right." Ben said still staring.  
"I am so getting fired for this." she muttered.

Elizabeth nodded her head in agreement. They all stared at the paper as she made fine strokes with a lemon soaked Q-tip. Nothing happened. Abigail gave an 'I-told-you-so' look while Ben, Riley, and Elizabeth look disappointed.

"I told you. You need heat." Mr. Gates said suddenly out of nowhere.  
Ben and Abigail looked at each other. Leaning down, they breathed gently on it. The Masonic symbol appeared.  
"See?" Mr. Gates said.  
Elizabeth grinned, "So cool." she whispered. Riley nodded his head affirmatively.  
"We need more juice." said Ben excitedly.  
"We need more heat." said Abigail, equally excited.

While Ben and Abigail ran off to gather more lemons and a hair dryer, Riley and Elizabeth sat with the document.  
"How's your head?" he asked, concern creeping into his tone of voice.  
She gently touched the back of her head and winced a little. "It's a bit sore but it'll heal. What about you? You hit your head harder."  
"It's fine." he said dismissively.  
Elizabeth rolled her eyes and touched the back of his head. "Ow! You knob!" he winced when she applied a little pressure.  
"Did you just call me a knob?" she asked playfully, pretending to be offended.  
"Yes." he said sticking his tongue out.  
Elizabeth got up close to his face so their noses were an inch away from each other. "And what might a knob be?" she asked coyly.  
"A uh, um. It's a uh... um." he whispered.  
"That's what I thought... You knob!" she exclaimed the last part, gently hitting him on the head and sitting back down.

Riley shook his head to clear it as Ben and Abigail walked back in and began to wipe down the document with lemon juice and dried it with the hair-dryer. Ben quickly wrote down numbers that appeared in groups of three.  
"That's not a map. Is it?" Riley asked confused.  
"More clues. What a surprise." Mr. Gates said.  
"Are those latitudes and longitudes?" Riley asked again.  
"That's why we need the Silence Dogood letters." Ben said, happy that one part of the clue was finished.  
"That's the key?" Abigail asked.  
"Yeah, 'The key in Silence undetected.' Dad, can we have the letters now?" Ben clarified and then asked his dad.  
"Will somebody please explain to me what these... magic numbers are?" Riley asked exasperated at being left in the dark.  
"It's an Ottendorf cipher," Elizabeth said. "The Egyptian mathematicians used them a lot."  
"That's right." Mr. Gates said approvingly.  
"Oh, okay. What's an Ottendorf cipher?" Riley asked again.

Elizabeth almost fell off her chair.  
"They're just codes." Mr. Gates muttered.  
"Each of these three numbers corresponds to a word in a key." Elizabeth said.  
"Usually a random book or a newspaper article." Abigail finished.  
"In this case, the Silence Dogood letters; so it's like the page number of the key text, the line on the page, and the letter in that line." Ben said pointing to the numbers written down. "So, Dad, where are the letters?" he asked, standing up.  
"You know, it's just by sheer happenstance that his grandfather..." Mr. Gates started to say.  
"Dad..." Ben interrupted.  
"...even found them. They were in some antique desk from the press room..." he continued.  
"Dad..." Ben said irately.  
"...of The New England Courant. That's a newspaper." he finished.  
"Dad, where are the letters?" Ben asked again.  
"I don't have them son." he answered softly.  
"What?" Ben said dumbfounded.  
"I don't have them." he muttered sadly.

Riley groaned and put his head in his hands. Abigail sighed dejectedly. Elizabeth moaned and threw her head back. Ben merely sat on a chair and took his gloves off with his teeth and cleared his throat.  
"Where are they?" he asked calmly.  
"I donated them to the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia." Mr. Gates said, trying to amend the situation.  
"Time to go." Ben said abruptly.

Everyone began to clean up.  
"I still can't believe it. All this time no one knew what was on the back." Abigail said.  
"The back of what?" Mr. Gates asked and lifted up the document.  
"Ah!" Riley said loudly.  
"Eek!" Elizabeth exclaimed, childishly hiding her face.  
"No!" Ben and Abigail yelled.  
"Oh my god. Oh my god!"  
"I know." Ben said trying to calm him down.  
"Oh my god. What have you done? This is... this is the..."  
"I know!" Ben said loudly.  
"This is the Declaration of Independence!" Mr. Gates exclaimed, looking like he was about to cry.  
"Yes. And it's very delicate." Abigail said taking the document away from him.  
"You stole it?!" he exclaimed accusingly at everyone.  
Riley pointed at Ben and Elizabeth put her hands in the air as if to say 'Don't look at me buddy.'

"Dad, I can explain, but I don't have time. It was necessary. And you saw the cipher." Ben said walking towards his father.  
"And that will lead to another clue, and that will lead to another clue! There is no treasure. I wasted 20 years of my life. And now you've destroyed yours. And you pulled me into all this." he said dejectedly.  
"Well, we can't have that." Ben said grinning suddenly.

"Comfy Dad?" Ben asked him.  
"I suppose. Not that I'll be here for long." he answered.  
"Crap. Let's go guys!" Ben exclaimed running off with the other three in tow.

They had duck-taped him to a chair with a Styrofoam cup in his hand so he wouldn't be considered a suspect. Ben grabbed the keys to his father's Cadillac Deville and the book Common Sense.

"Bye Dad!" he called as they all pile in the car: Ben driving, Abigail in the passenger seat, and Elizabeth and Riley in the back. Riley curled up in a corner while Elizabeth curled up in the other corner.

"Your dad's got a sweet ride." Riley muttered with his eyes closed.  
"I think we should change clothes. We look kind of conspicuous, don't you think?" Ben said.  
"I'd love to go shopping too, but we have no money." Riley replied sarcastically.  
"Here, I took this from his house," Ben said handing a book to Abigail. "He usually tucks a few hundred dollars somewhere between those pages."  
"Common Sense. How appropriate." Abigail muttered.  
"When are we gonna get there? I'm hungry. This car smells weird." Riley muttered.  
Elizabeth chuckled at his ramblings and snuggled down for a long night.


	6. Risk

**Disclaimer:**_ I do not own National Treasure, just Elizabeth._

**Chapter Six**

_Pictures in profile._

After a couple of hours, Ben, Abigail, Riley, and Elizabeth arrived in Philadelphia. Ben parked the car and got out while Abigail woke up Elizabeth and Riley, "Wake up sleepy-heads. We're in Philadelphia." she said, poking them both.

She received two groans of protest but they began to move, so Abigail left them alone; Elizabeth had a crick in her neck and was sore all over. She stretched and accidentally kicked Riley in the gut.

"Ow! What was that for?!" he whined, rubbing his stomach.  
"Sorry Riley, I didn't mean to kick you." she yawned.  
They shuffled out of the car sleepily.  
"Lizzy, you come with Ben and me to get some normal clothes. We'll attract too much attention in our present attire and it's hardly fitting to go looking for a legendary treasure dressed to the nines." Abigail said logically.  
"Whatever you say sis." Elizabeth yawned again.  
"Riley, I want you to go to the Franklin Institute where the Silence Dogood letters are. Get the letters that correspond with these numbers okay? Be careful, we don't know where Ian could be." Ben commanded Riley, handing him the Ottendorf cipher.  
"Okey-dokey." Riley yawned and trotted off.

They soon found a simple clothing store and they each grabbed clothes and started to change. Elizabeth could hear her sister and Ben talking but she just concentrated on getting changed. She had picked out a pair of dark tan cargo pants, a dark gray tank top, this jacket (see profile), and these shoes (see profile). She was pretty happy with what she was able to get. Abigail and Ben were sporting similar laid-back attire.  They had just finished paying when Riley came bounding up the stairs of the store.

"Hey." he said, glancing at Elizabeth.  
She quietly replied, "Hey."   
"Did you get it Riley?" Ben asked excitedly.    
"Oh, I got it. _'The vision to see the treasured past comes as the timely shadow crosses in front of the house of the Pass and Stow.'_ Now _'Pass and Stow'_, of course referring to-"  
"The Liberty Bell." Ben and Abigail said together, cutting off Riley.    
"Why do you have to do that?" Riley whined.  
"Well, John Pass and John Stow cast the bell." Abigail said.  
"Okay. Well, then, what does the rest of this mean?" asked Riley.  
"Wait, _'The vision to see the treasured past'_ must refer to a way to read the map." Ben started.  
"I thought the cipher was the map." Riley interjected, confused.  
"No, the cipher was a way to find the way to read the map." Elizabeth clarified.  
"And the way to read the map can be found where the _'timely shadow'_ crosses in front of the Liberty Bell." Abigail said walking closer to Ben.  
"Crosses in front of the _'house'_ of the Liberty Bell. Independence Hall." Ben said moving closer to her.    
"Right, so _'timely shadow'_... it's a specific time." Abigail deduced.  
"Err, what time?" Riley said quickly before someone else beat him to it.  
"What time...? What time...? Wait a minute, wait. You're gonna love this." Ben said, his eyes lighting up.

Turning towards the cashier, who had been watching them all and giving them a strange look, he asked, "Excuse me, can I see one of those hundred-dollar bills I paid you with?"  
"No." she snapped, giving him a 'What are you crazy?' look.  
"Oh. Well, here, I have this diver's watch. It's called a Submariner. I dive with it. It's actually quite valuable. You can use it as collateral." he said, taking it off and holding it out to her.  
"Whatever." she muttered and took the watch.

"Thank-you. On the back of a hundred-dollar bill is an etching of Independence Hall based on a painting done in-"  
"Hello." the cashier snapped, waving the bill around.  
"Thank-you... in the 1780's, who the artist was actually a friend of Benjamin Franklin's. Its wonderful." he said the last sentence to the cashier.  
"Fascinating." she replied sarcastically.  
"Hold this." he said and handed the Declaration to Abigail.  
"Okay." she replied and started to sling it over her shoulder but Ben pulled back and looked at her.  
"I'm not going anywhere." she said smiling.  
 He smiled back.

Elizabeth made a gagging noise and Riley rolled his eyes.  
"Now, I think that if we look at this clock tower..." he raised a water bottle in front of the bill to use as a magnifying glass. "...We may find the specific time."  
"What do you see?" Elizabeth asked impatiently.  
"2:22" he said.  
"What time is it now?" Abigail asked the cashier.  
The girl looked at Ben's watch, "Almost 3."   
Everyone became depressed.

"We missed it!" Elizabeth said with a sigh of defeat.  
"No, we didn't. We didn't miss it because..." Riley started but no one interrupted him, "You don't know this? I-I know something about history that you don't know." he exclaimed gleefully.  
"I'd be very excited to learn about it Riley." said Ben impatiently.  
"Well, hold on one second, let me just... let me just take in this moment. This is... this is cool. Is this how you feel all the time? Because you know... Except for now, of course." he gloated.  
"Riley!" Abigail and Elizabeth snapped.  
"Sheesh, alright! What I know is that daylight savings wasn't established until World War I. If its 3 pm now, okay, that means in 1776, it would be 2 pm." Riley said.  
"Let's go." Abigail said excitedly and began to walk away.  
Ben returned the bill and grabbed his watch, "Riley, you're a genius."  
"Don't inflate his ego too much Ben." Elizabeth said and followed Ben down the stairs.  
"Do you actually know who the first person to suggest daylight savings was?" Riley asked, ignoring Elizabeth's comment.  
"Benjamin Franklin." everyone replied.  
Riley did a little hop of defeat and followed Elizabeth down the stairs.  
"Do you need some ice for that burn Riley?" Elizabeth asked him.  
"...Shut-up." 

The four friends walked over to Independence Hall and joined a tour group so as not to draw attention to them. They were walking with the group when Ben took a detour over a rope with a sign that said _'Employees Only'_ and jumped up some stairs with Abigail, Elizabeth, and Riley in tow. They crossed a walkway quickly for fear of being seen, and went through a door that led to the bell tower. Walking past the clock parts, Riley murmured, "Neat stuff." At the top of the bell tower, they could see the shadow's point.

"What bell is this?" Riley asked looking at the large bell nearby.  
"It's the Centennial Bell. It replaced the Liberty Bell in 1876." replied Ben distractedly.  
"There it is." said Abigail, pointing to the tip of the shadow of the bell tower.  
"Alright. I'm gonna go down there, and you meet me in the signing room. Okay?" Ben said.  
"Okay." everyone affirmed.

Ben walked down a flight of stairs to go onto the roof.  
"Let's go." Abigail said to Riley and Elizabeth.    
"Right." Elizabeth murmured and followed her sister down the stairs.  
Riley lingered for a moment, "3:22. My idea." he said to himself.  
"Riley..." Elizabeth called.  
"Coming!" he said and scampered off after the sisters. 

Abigail, Elizabeth, and Riley stood around the signing room waiting for Ben.  
"I wonder what he'll find." Elizabeth mused.  
"I hope a note that says _'The treasure is at wherever boulevard. Go there and be happy with our hard-earned money. You deserve it.'_" Riley replied wistfully.  
"Now where would the fun be in that?" Elizabeth asked him.   
"No more people trying to kill us?" he suggested.  
"Ah, good one. You have me convinced." she said.

Ben came into the room suddenly.  
"Hey." Abigail said.  
"What'd you score?" Riley asked.  
Ben took a pair of old spectacles out of his pocket.  
"I found this: some kind of ocular device. _'The vision to see the treasured past.'_ Let me take this." he said to Abigail and handed her the spectacles while she gave him the Declaration.    
"They're like early American X-ray specs." Riley said looking through them carefully.  
"And I'm sure that dear old Franklin used them to peep on Betsy Ross." Elizabeth said laughing.  
"Hardy-har-har." he said, passing the specs to her.  
She looked through them, "Cool."

Ben opened the container and placed it on the windowsill, brining the document over to the others.

"Benjamin Franklin invented something like these." Abigail murmured.  
"I, uh, think he invented these." Ben said smiling.  
"What do we do with them?" Riley asked.  
Elizabeth put them and crossed her eyes. "Look through them Sherlock."  
Riley sighed and held his hand out, she carefully took them off and let him look through them.

"Here, help me." Abigail said to Elizabeth.  
Both of them carefully unroll the document.  
"Whoa." Ben suddenly said.  
"What?" Riley asked.  
"It's just... that the last time this was here, it was being signed..." Be murmured, a dreamy smile on his face.

Abigail smiled indulgently while Riley and Elizabeth gave him a strange look.

"Ben, there's another tour coming." Riley muttered.  
"Right... turn it over." Ben said.  
"Careful." Abigail cautioned.  
"Spectacles." Ben breathed.  
Riley handed them over and Ben put them on, looking at the document.

"Whoa..." he breathed.  
"What do you see?" Abigail asked excitedly.  
"What is it? Is it a treasure map?" Riley squeaked.  
"Tell us quick Ben!" Elizabeth begged.  
"It says _'Heere at the Wall'_, spelled with two E's. Here, take a look." Ben said, passing the spectacles to Abigail and helping hold the document.  
Riley tried to grab the glasses but only grabbed air.  
"Oh... wow." Abigail breathed.

"Again, why can't they just say go to this place, and here's the treasure, spend it wisely?" Riley asked again.  
"Again, it wouldn't be any fun!" Elizabeth retorted.  
"I thought I had you convinced!" he exclaimed.  
"The best things in life are worth risking your life for." she replied.

"Oh, no." Ben exclaimed, looking out a window.  
Abigail, Elizabeth, and Riley looked out the window too.   "Oh, no!" they all groaned.  
Paul and Shippen were walking around outside.  
"How'd they find us?" Riley asked, pulling back the curtain a little more.  
"Ian has nearly unlimited resources... and he's smart." Ben said, he and Abigail rolling up the Declaration.  
"I don't think we can get out of here without being spotted." Abigail pointed out.  
"Well, we don't want them to have the Declaration or the glasses, but we especially don't want them to have them both together." Ben reasoned, putting the Declaration back in the white tube.  
"So what do we do?" Riley asked.  
"We separate the lock from the key. We're splitting up." Ben clarified.  
"Good idea." Abigail complimented him.  
"I'll take this and those." Ben said, referring to the red container for the Declaration and the spectacles. "You guys keep that. Meet me at the car and call me if you have any problems."  
"Right." they replied, Abigail holding the white tube with the Declaration in it.  
"Problems...? As in we get caught and killed?" Riley asked.  
"Yeah. That would be a big problem." Ben said. "Take care of her." he murmured before he slipped out of the room.  
"I will." all three said at the same time.  
Elizabeth laughed at Riley's bewildered expression and Abigail's red face.

Ben walked out of Independence Hall, followed a couple seconds later by Abigail, Elizabeth, and Riley but they left in the opposite direction. The three walked quickly on a busy street with Shaw and Victor close behind.  
"Elizabeth! Riley!" Abigail exclaimed nervously upon seeing the two men.  
"Time to run!" Riley said.

The three ran quickly down the street.  
"In here!" Abigail exclaimed, opening the door to a farmer's market.  
The three kept running and came to a three-way intersection.  
"This way!" they all yelled and ran off in different directions.

Elizabeth ran around a corner and promptly smacked into someone.  "Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry I- EEP!" she squeaked, looking up at Victor.  
"Hello darlin'. I think you should come with me." he said, moving his jacket aside to reveal a gun.  
"I think so too." she replied nervously.  
"Right answer." 

He grabbed her arm and hauled her up. Keeping a firm grip on her, he walked her towards the exit. Elizabeth looked around wildly for Abigail or Riley. She looked at a flower stand to see Riley behind it with big eyes. He made a move towards her but she mouthed _'GUN!'_. He nodded his head and watched as Victor hauled her out of the store.

_'I hope you have better luck getting out of here than I did Riley.'_ Elizabeth thought forlornly.  
_'This treasure better be worth it if you're risking your life Elizabeth.'_ Riley thought angrily.


	7. Sides of the Story

**Disclaimer:**_ I do not own National Treasure, just Elizabeth._

**Chapter Seven**

_I edited Chapter Six and SingingInTheRain1989I didn't intentionally delete that scene, I just didn't realize I missed it. Thanks for pointing it out!_

Victor continued to drag Elizabeth around until they walked up to a couple black Suburbans. Victor opened up the back door to the back of one and threw her in, following a couple beats behind her.   
"Duck tape?" he asked calmly as Elizabeth flailed a bit.  
 Someone handed him duck tape and he grabbed her arms, pulled them behind her back, and taped them together. He taped her ankles together as well.   
"Do I need to cover your mouth?" he asked, holding a strip up to her face.  
 "That better be a rhetorical question." she muttered, holding his gaze.  
 "What was that?" he said eyeing her.   
"Why yes it is. A yes that is. Yes indeedy a yes it is!" she grinned goofily.   
"Stop talking or I'll tape your mouth shut anyways." he growled.   
"I'd do the whole 'lips zippered' thing with my hands but they're taped together behind my back so use your imagination." she hissed, dropping all pretenses of acting friendly.

"Stop it you two. Act like the civilized adults your parents taught you to be." Ian commanded from the front seat. He craned his neck back to look at Elizabeth.  
 "You look better in a dress my dear." he said, a hint of a smile playing on his lips.   
"You look better behind bars." she retorted.  
 "Ah, sarcastic wit. Maybe while you spend your time with us, you'll learn to dull your sharp tongue." he murmured.  
 "Ah, male masculinity. Maybe while I spend my time here, you'll learn how to treat a lady nicer." she snapped.   
"I'd treat your captors a bit nicer my dear. We'll be taking care of you for awhile." he said and started the car.  
 Elizabeth muttered something.   
"Care to share that comment my dear?" he asked her.  
 "Never. Might harm your delicate masculine pride." she said with mock sincerity.   
He whirled around and stared at her, an inch from her face.   
"You would do well Miss Elizabeth Chase to keep that tongue of yours **silent**. I don't get angry often but God help you if I do." he said slowly pronouncing each word with repressed anger. His eyes slid down and back up. "Otherwise sit back and enjoy the ride." he said pleasantly and slid back to the front seat. 

Elizabeth gulped nervously.  
_'They sure don't teach chivalry at villain-school. Let's just hope that someone gets me out of here before anything like __**that**_happens.' she thought settling herself in for a long ride. 

Back at the farmer's market. 

Abigail had been able to sneak around the farmer's market until she spotted Riley crouching behind a stack of magazines and cards. She reached out and laid a hand on his shoulder. He whirled around fearfully thinking it was Shippen. 

"Where were you?!" he hissed.   
"Hiding." she answered simply. "Let's find Elizabeth and get out of here."   
Riley gritted his teeth and clenched his fists at the mention of Elizabeth's name.   
"Riley? Is something wrong? Is she hurt?! Where is she?!" Abigail asked frantically.   
"...**Victor**," he spat, "managed to grab her and has a gun so I couldn't get her. I'm sorry Abigail."  
 Abigail's lip trembled a bit as she closed her eyes. She took a deep breath. When she opened her eyes, they were shiny but determined. "Then we'll just have to get her back. Let's get out of here. We can't lose the document as well."   
"Right." he replied.  
They dashed out of the farmer's market with the Declaration...

 With Ben. 

"Enough, man! Give me the document." Phil yelled at Ben.  
 Ben shrugged his shoulders and rolled the red case over to him. "Alright Phil."

It came dangerously close to falling off the edge of the roof but Phil managed to grab it. He opened it up to check to see if the document was in there. It wasn't. He looked up to where Ben _was_. .. Ben hopped down the fire escape and kept running until he was sure he had lost Phil. He felt a vibration from his phone and opened it.

 "What?" Ben asked.  
 "We lost it." Riley said sullenly.  
 "What?!"  
 "We lost the Declaration. Ian took it." Riley muttered.  
 Ben sighed. "Yeah, okay. You alright? You three alright?" he asked concerned.  
 "Yeah, yeah, Abigail and I are fine but," Riley sighed, "Victor grabbed Elizabeth. We don't know where she is. Ben, I'm sorry."   
"We'll be fine. Meet me at the car. We'll get them both back. I promise."

 Ben hung up and turned the corner to where the car was.   
"Hello Mr. Gates." an older man said walker casually up to Ben.  Some men walked out of seemingly nowhere and swarmed around Ben and the car.  
 "Mr. Gates, face your father's car and put your hands behind your back please." a man said pushing Ben up against the car.  
 "We got one in custody." another man said into a walkie-talkie.   
"Gates, you're a hard man to find." said the older man whom he first talked to. 

Ben sighed and looked out of the corners of his eyes to see Riley and Abigail scurrying away. A man grabbed the ancient glasses and threw them down on the roof of the car while Ben was being frisked.

 "Could you please be careful?" Ben asked, annoyed at their mistreatment of artifacts.

 Back with Abigail and Riley. 

"God, this day is the worst." Riley muttered.  
 "Tell me about it." Abigail muttered, sitting down beside Riley on a bench in a park.   
"What are we going to do?" Riley moaned despairingly. "We've lost Elizabeth, Ben, the Declaration, and the glasses. It'll be impossible to get Ben out of the clutches of the FBI..."   
"Maybe for us. But not for Ian." Abigail said slowly. "Riley, do you know how to get in touch with Ian?"   
"Excuse me?" he asked looking at her confused.   
"Look, we don't have any resources to get Ben, Elizabeth, the document, or the glasses back. However, Ian does. We just have to cooperate with him for a bit and then we can get away. Either that or we lose **everything**." she said logically.  
 "...Fine. No fair using logic against me." he muttered.

He got out his cell phone, dialed the number, and handed the phone over to Abigail. "I hope you know what you're doing."

 With Elizabeth. 

Ian's phone went off.  He pulled over, as does the other black Suburban. He grabbed his phone as Elizabeth looked on curiously.   
"Hello?" he asked. "Ah, dearest Abigail... Yes, yes. I have your _darling_ little sister here... No, I haven't hurt her. Although you might want to talk to her about that mouth of hers... Oh, really. Okay, and what do you want me to do about it? ... Glasses? Oh, Ben has it. I see, that was the clue... Alright, I suppose we'll have to cooperate with you. Don't worry, we'll get him and those glasses back... Yes, and your sister will be fine. Alright then? Good-bye."  Ian snapped his phone shut and looked back at a glaring Elizabeth.   
"Well, you stay here, we're off to get Ben back from the FBI so that we can get to that treasure." he said disarmingly.   
Elizabeth's glare intensified.  
 "Keep glaring and your face will stay like that." he said and slid out of the car.

 Elizabeth sighed and looked out of the window.  
 _'It's only mid-afternoon and everything has gone to the dogs. I hope we can get to the treasure before Ian does... I hope Riley is okay...'_

 With Ben. 

"That's some story." Agent Sadusky murmured thoughtfully, setting down his mug.  
 Ben had been taken to a police station and was currently handcuffed to the table being questioned.   
"Well, it's the same story I tried to tell you guys before the Declaration was stolen." Ben explained rubbing his face tiredly with his hands.  
 "By you?" asked Sadusky.   
"No, by Ian. I stole it to stop him. I did it alone. Neither Dr. Chases were involved. And Ian still ended up with the Declaration of Independence and the younger Dr. Chase." Ben recited like a mantra.   
"Because of you." Sadusky pointed out.  
 Ben gives a _'Not funny.'_ look.  
 "So here are your options. Door number one, you go to prison for a very long time. Door number two, we are going to get back the Declaration of Independence and the younger Dr. Chase, you help us find them, and you still go to prison for a very long time, but you feel better inside." Sadusky said.  
 "Is there a door that doesn't lead to prison?" Ben asked tiredly.  
 "Someone's got to go to prison Ben." Sadusky said chuckling.  
 "Yeah." Ben muttered.

 "So what are these for?" the agent asked, picking up the ancient spectacles.   
"It's a way to read the map." Ben clarified.  
 "Right. Knights Templar, Free Masons, invisible treasure map... So what'd it say?" he asked.  
 "_'Heere at the wall.'_ Nothing else. It's just another clue." Ben said tiredly.  
 Sadusky pushed down the little levers which made the highlighter in front of the lens change colors.   
"There's more to it." he whispered.

 Suddenly Ben's phone on the table began to ring. Sadusky picked it off the desk while the other FBI agents got the tracking devices ready. When they were ready, Sadusky handed the phone over to Ben. 

"Yes?" Ben asked.  
 "Hello Ben. How are you?" Ian asked.  
 "Um, chained to a desk." Ben replied humorlessly.  
 "Sorry to hear that. I want you to meet me on the flight of the USS Intrepid. You know where that is?" he asked.  
 "New York." Ben said a bit confused.   
"Meet me there at ten o'clock tomorrow morning. And bring those glasses you found at Independence Hall." he said.  
 "Yeah, I know about the glasses." Ben said cautiously.   
"We can take a look at the Declaration, and then you can be on your way." he says.   
"And I'm supposed to believe that?" Ben asked incredulously.  
 "I told you from the start, I only wanted to borrow it. You can have it. And the glasses. I'll even throw in the pipe from the Charlotte and the Chase girl." he said.   
Ben looked at Sadusky who nodded affirmatively.   
"I'll be there." Ben said.  
 "And tell the FBI agents listening in on this call if they want the Declaration back and not just a box of confetti, then you'll come alone. We wouldn't want the girl to hit her head and never wake up, now would we?" he asked and hung up. 

Ben hung up as well and gave Agent Sadusky a dry look.  
"Now do you believe me?"   
"I think I do Ben."

For the night, Ben was put in a holding cell.  Abigail and Riley took a bus to New York and found a cheap motel for the night.  Elizabeth curled up in the back of a black Suburban and fell asleep uneasily.  Tomorrow would be a big day.


	8. The Way to Read the Map

**Disclaimer:**_ I do not own National Treasure, just Elizabeth._

**Chapter Eight**

In the morning, Ben and an entourage of FBI agents arrived in New York. He was given a secret microphone and earpiece. Sadusky was in an unmarked van filled to the nines with surveillance equipment. A helicopter was hovering around the USS Intrepid and three agents were on the ship keeping a close watch on Ben.  He walked around listening vaguely as Sadusky instructed his men.

"Gates; stay with the program." Sadusky commanded him.  
 "I hope your agents are all under four feet tall and wearing little scarves, otherwise Ian's gonna know they're here." Ben commented as a group of Boy scouts walked by.   
"As soon as he shows you the Declaration, we'll move in. Don't try anything. Just let us handle it." Sadusky said.  
 "You know, Agent Sadusky, something I've noticed about fishing: it never works out so well for the bait." Ben said.

Suddenly, a black helicopter began to move toward the USS Intrepid, coming closer all the time. The FBI agents scrambled to figure out the situation.   
"Gates, are you with me?" Sadusky asked Ben.   
"Well I'm sure not against you, if that's what you're asking." Ben replied as he walked towards the bow of the ship. 

Then, Ben's microphone received some interference as Shaw walked up to Ben, carrying a video camera so as to look like a tourist.   
"Hello, Ben. Thomas Edison needed only one way to make a light bulb. Sound familiar?"  
 The helicopter got closer to the ship.   
"Go to the starboard observation point behind the F-16 and here's what you do. Jump overboard and there'll be a diver there to take you to safety." explained Shaw.

Ben nodded his head as Shaw moved away and signaled the helicopter to vacate.  Ben began to walk towards the F-16, at the stern of the ship.   
"Gates? Gates? Who's got Gates? All agents report in. Did Gates speak to anybody?" Sadusky asked his agents.   
"Target is moving." reported an agent from the helicopter.   
"He's heading towards the stern." one of the agents on the deck said.  
 "I've got him, he's coming this way." said another one.   
"Anyone got a view of our friend, Ian Howe?" Sadusky asked.  
 "Ian Howe is not at the stern, sir." an agent replied.  
 "Then why is he heading there?" Sadusky asked no one in general. 

Ben ducked underneath the tip of the F-16 and stood next to the railing of the observation deck.   
"Sadusky, I'm still not against you: but I found door number three and I'm taking it." Ben said, leaning on the railing.   
"Move in! Move in! Move in on Gates!" Sadusky yelled into the microphone. 

Ben casually jumped over the railing and plunged into the river. He stayed submerged until a diver grabbed his leg and gave him a breathing device. They both grabbed onto a little water rocket propeller and zoomed off.  They surfaced far away from the Intrepid, near a ladder. Ben climbed up it to come face-to-face with Shaw. 

"Hello, Ben. Welcome to New Jersey."  
 They walked to a parking garage where there were two other men standing by a black car. Shippen opened the trunk of the car.  
 "What'd you do with Abigail, Elizabeth, and Riley?" Ben demanded.  
 "Hope these fit." Shippen said, handing Ben some dry clothes and closing the trunk. "We had to guess your sizes."   
"I said, what'd you do with Abigail, Elizabeth, and Riley? Riley is the only one who could've told you that line about Edison." Ben reiterated.  
 "Did you bring the glasses?" Shaw asked.  
 "I don't know. Tell me what's happening here." Ben said stubbornly.   
"Ask your girlfriend: she's the one calling all the shots now. She won't shut up." Shaw muttered, opening the car door.  
Ben grinned, changed quickly into the dry clothes, and hopped into the car.

 "Hey Sunshine, wake up and move over."  
 "Eh?" Elizabeth moaned.

 She was shoved to one side and slammed her head into the seatbelt restraint.  
 "OW!" she screeched, sitting up and rubbing her head.   
"Treat your captives better and maybe you'll get a nicer sentence." Mr. Gates snapped.   
"Mr. Gates? Izzat you? Why are you here?" Elizabeth mumbled, still rubbing her aching head.  
 "Ben is my son. Do they need any other excuse?" he replied.  
 "No I suppose not." she conceded.

Blinking a couple times, she cleared her vision.  "Sorry but I must look a wreck. Sleeping in the back of a car does that to you." she said yawning.   
"That's quite alright. How did you get to join Ian's club of hostages?" he asked.   
"I lost hide and go seek with Victor." she said, holding up her hands and ankles.  
 "Wrists **and** ankles taped together. Ian must not like you." he stated whistling.  
 "Oh no, he likes me. I just have a habit of making their lives miserable like the pieces of-sh-"   
"Keep it quiet in there." Victor snapped, rapping on the window.   
Elizabeth scowled. 

Abigail and Riley meanwhile were sitting in an internet cafe across from the car where Ian was standing. Abigail took out a cell phone and dialed Shaw's number while Riley stared intently at his computer screen.  
 "Yeah, hello?" Shaw asked.  
 "I want to talk to Ben please." she answered sweetly.   
"Hello?" Ben asked.   
"Hi, sweetie. How's your day going?" Abigail asked nonchalantly.  
 "Uh, interesting, dear. So, what, you working with Ian now?" Ben asked amused.  
 "It turns out helping someone escape from FBI custody is a criminal act: and he's the only criminal we knew. So we called him and made a deal." Abigail explained.   
"Well, you're... you're... you're alright, yeah? I mean you're safe?" Ben asked, very concerned.  
"Yeah, we both are. We don't know where Elizabeth is though. But, Riley's right here, doing something clever with the computer." she said.  
 "I'm tracking him through the... Hey!" Riley said, as she put the phone up to his face in the middle of his sentence.  "I'm tracking you through the GPS in Shaw's phone. They take a turn anywhere we don't want, we'll know it..."  
Abigail took the phone away from his face. "So don't worry." she said brightly,  "If Ian tries to double-cross us, we can call the FBI and tell them right where you are. And where to find Ian."  
 "And where is that?" Ben asked.  
 "Right across the street from where we're hiding, at the intersection of Wall Street and Broadway." she said.  
 "Well, you figured out the clue." he said.  
 "Simple. _'Heere at the wall.'_ Wall and Broadway... Ben, there is a catch. We made Ian believe he could have the treasure. It was the only way we could get this far." she said softly.  
 "He's here." Riley muttered gazing at the car.  
 Abigail snapped the phone shut and watched.

 Ben shut the phone and handed it over to Shaw. They got out of the car as Ian walked over to them.  
 "Ben. You alright? No broken bones? A jump like that could kill a man." Ian said jokingly.   
"Naw, it was cool. You should try it sometime." Ben replied amiably.  
 Ian chuckled and placed the Declaration and the meerschaum pipe on the top of the car.  
 "The Declaration of Independence and the meerschaum pipe: all yours."  
 "That's it?" Ben asked.  
 "That's it." Ian replied. "I knew you'd keep your promise. Now, where is it? Where's my treasure?"  
"It's right here." Ben said, gesturing to the road signs. "The map said, _'Heere at the wall.'_, spelled with two E's. Wall Street follows the path of an actual wall that the original Dutch settlers built as a defense to keep the British out. That main gate was located at a street called De Heere, also two E's. Later De Heere Street was renamed Broadway after the British got in. So, _'Heere at the wall.'_ Broadway, Wall Street. Cheerio." he said and grabbed the Declaration and pipe. 

"Just a moment, Ben." Ian said.  
 "Ian, if you break our deal, the FBI will be only a few minutes behind you. You might get away, you might not." Ben replied offhandedly.   
"Is that all the map said?" Ian asked suspiciously.  
 "Every word." Ben said nervously.  
 "Oh, Ben. You know the key to running a convincing bluff? Every once in awhile you've got to be holding all the cards." Ian said nonchalantly.

He motioned to Victor. Ben followed his gaze to see Victor open the car door to reveal his dad.   
"Dad." he whispered.  He turned angrily to Ian.  
"Uh-uh-uh. Look again." came the taunting reply.   
Ben looked back at the SUV. Victor reached in and grabbed Elizabeth's arm, yanking her forward so Ben could see her.  
 "Elizabeth." he murmured.

 Victor closed the door.  
 "Is there anything else you want to tell me?" Ian asked.  
 "...Trinity Church. We have to go inside Trinity Church." Ben said defeated.  
 "Good... Excellent. Well, why don't you ask Dr. Chase and Riley to join us? I'm sure they're around here somewhere." Ian said gazing around.

  Mr. Gates was walked off to Trinity Church but Victor and Elizabeth stayed behind. He flicked out a knife and came towards her.  
 "I'm going to cut your duck-tape." he muttered.  
 "Be careful." Elizabeth snapped nervously as he positioned the knife in between her ankles. He slashed down quickly and cut the tape... and her left leg nicely. She hissed in pain. He cut her wrists, but didn't cut her this time. Grabbing her arm, he walked her towards Ian and company. She took a deep breath as she felt the blood pulse out of her wound. 

_'I'm in trouble now...'_


	9. Parkington Lane

**Disclaimer:** _I do not own National Treasure, just Elizabeth._

**Chapter Nine**

Elizabeth limped into the church on Victors arm. He handed her off to Phil and went back outside. Phil set her down next to Mr. Gates. 

"Are you alright?" Ben asked them both, walking up to them with Ian.  
 "What do you think? I'm a hostage." Mr. Gates replied softly.   
"Elizabeth?" Ben gently shook her prostrate form. She was hunching over, grabbing her leg. When she sat up he could see a long, bloody cut down her left leg.   
"I-I' ve seen better." she whispered.  
Mr. Gates took out a handkerchief to wrap her leg with.

Ben was pushed up further in the church.   
"Let them go Ian." Ben pleaded with Ian.   
"When we find the treasure."  
 "No, now. Or you can figure out the clues for yourself. Good luck." Ben replied stubbornly.  
 "Ben, I don't think you fully appreciate the gravity of the situation." Ian murmured, glancing to the back of the church.

They watched as Abigail and Riley were forced into the church and sat down. He glanced at Elizabeth who was chalk white, leaning back with her eyes closed and at his father who was rubbing his aching back. He sighed and looked back at Ian.

 "Let's have a look at that map." Ian said.  
 Ben and Ian got out the Declaration carefully and Ben put on the glasses. He lifted the lever for the red and blue lenses. It revealed the words _'Parkington Lane'_ on the back. He replaced the red and blue lenses and lifted the green one. The word _'Beneath'_ appeared above the word Parkington.   
"It's... It's... it's really quite something. It's... It really is remarkable. Take a look." Ben whispered, amazed at the intricacy of the clues.   
Ian put on the glasses.  "_'Parkington Lane'_"  
"_'Beneath Parkington Lane.'_" Ben corrected him.  
 Ian took off the glasses, perplexed.  "But why would the map lead us here, then take us somewhere else? What's the purpose?" he mused.  
 "Just another clue." Mr. Gates muttered from the back of the church.  
 "Dad!" Ben hissed. "No, you're right. Parkington Lane has to be here somewhere." he said, looking around the church.  
 "A street inside the church?" Ian asked.  
 "Not inside. Beneath. Beneath the church." Ben corrected, again.

 Ben and Ian rolled up the Declaration and placed it back inside the tube. Ian motioned everyone to follow. They walked towards a side of the church and found a door that led to the basement. Shaw opened the door and Ian went down first. Riley followed down next, trying to swat off Victor's hand from his shoulder. Victor followed and then a shaky Elizabeth. Ben stood by the door and waited for Abigail. 

"I'm so sorry Ben." she murmured.  
 "None of this is your fault." he replied.  
 "I co..." she began.  
 "Come on." Phil said, walking up behind them.  
 He took Abigail down next. Then Mr. Gates and Ben followed.  
 "Look. Cooperation only lasts as long as the status quo is unchanged. As soon as this guy gets to wherever this thing ends, he won't need you anymore. Or... or any of us." Mr. Gates murmured.  
 "So we find a way to make sure the status quo changes in our favor." Ben said.  
 "How?" Mr. Gates asked.  
 "I'm still working on it." Ben murmured.  
 "Well, I guess I better work on it too, then."

 Riley grabbed Elizabeth's arm as she tripped down the last step and pulled her off to the side.   
"What happened to your leg?" he asked softly.   
"Victor cut it when he was cutting the duck-tape around my ankles." she whispered.  
 "God Elizabeth. I'm so sorry. If I hadn't of-" he moaned.   
"It's not your fault. Let's just focus on getting out of this blasted situation." she said softly.   
He nodded and wrapped his arm around her waist. He helped her walk over to a bunch of plaques on the wall, which were actually the fronts of tombs.   
"Look at this one." Elizabeth murmured, her fingers tracing a tombstone. "It has Masonic symbols. And look! Parkington Lane. So it was a name."  
 "Hey! Par... Hey, we found it! Him!" Riley shouted excitedly. 

"Ben!" Ian called out, coming over to the tomb. "It's a name."  
 Ben came over and ran his hand over the tombstone. "Parkington Lane. He was a third-degree master mason of the Blue Lo..." Ben began to say.  
He failed to notice Ian motioning for Victor. Victor came up with a wrench and began to smash open the tombstone.   
"Hey! Stop!" Ben shouted but the smashing continued until there was an open hole.  Shaw went in and began to pull out the casket. Ben, Ian, Phil, Shaw, Shippen, and Victor helped to get the casket out. Once it was out of the tomb, they began to lower it to the ground only to have poor Mr. Parkington Lane break through the bottom and onto the floor. Elizabeth and Riley flinched and moved away from the corpse. 

"Careful no one steps in him." Shippen said jokingly.  
 Everyone carefully lowered the casket overtop of the body and onto the ground. Then they all crowded around the entrance to the tomb as Shaw shined a light down into it.   
"Okay. Who wants to go down the creepy tunnel inside the tomb first?" Riley asked no one in particular.   
"Right. Phil, Victor, you stay here. And if anyone should come out without me, well... use your imagination." he instructed them. Looking at Ben he asked, "Shall we?"

 Ben grabbed a flashlight and began down the tunnel with Ian following. He got to the end of the crawling portion and grabbed a torch.  
 "You got a light?"  
 Ian took a light out of his pocket and lit the torch while everyone else filtered in. Ben walked around an obstruction and went down some stairs. A beam had fallen onto the path so Ben stopped and helped everyone else get over it safely.

 "Watch your step." he said to his dad.  
 He helped Riley over who patted his shoulder in return. He gripped Elizabeth's arm as she stiffly walked over the beam. She smiled softly at him as Riley grabbed her around the waist and helped her down the tunnel. She glanced back as her sister was swept up into Ben's arms for a big kiss. She smiled and rested her head on Riley's shoulder. He smiled down at her.  
 "Why does that never happen to me?" they heard Shippen mutter to himself. They tried to stifle their laughter. 

They all kept walking until they got to a wider area.   
"What's this?" Ian asked looking at a giant, round thing.   
"It's a chandelier." Ben murmured. Walking forward, he lit it with the torch. Passing it to Ian, he and Riley helped to push the chandelier out with a rope. The light revealed a winding staircase down a **deep** shaft.   
"Wow." Riley murmured.  
 "Look at the elevators." Ben said.  
 "A dumb-waiter system." Mr. Gates observed.  
 "How do a bunch of guys with hand tools build all this?" Shippen asked, looking all around.   
"The same way they built the pyramids and the Great Wall of China." Elizabeth murmured.  
 "Yeah, the aliens helped them." Riley mused.  
 Elizabeth smacked his head lightly and whispered, "You knob." 

"Right, let's go. What are we waiting for?" Ian asked.  
 Shippen handed Mr. Gates a torch and motioned him to go first. He just gave him an incredulous look.  
 "I'm not going out on that thing. Two-hundred years of termite damage and rot." he snapped.  
 "Dad, do what he says." Ben said tiredly.  
 He took a cautious step, ensuring that it would hold his weight each time he moved with everyone following him. He kicked down a loose board.  
"Watch your step. We're right under the Trinity graveyard. That's probably why no one ever found this." Mr. Gates cautioned everyone.   
Riley rested his hand on a railing. When he glanced down, there were cockroaches crawling all over it and the railing. He squeaked and flung his hand around to get them off. He shuddered and picked up his speed. The sisters laughed a bit at him.

Suddenly, the ground above them began to rumble. Pieces of dirt came loose as everyone stopped walking.  
 "What is that?" Riley asked nervously.  
 Once the rumbling faded away, Ian answered, "Subway."   
Ben nodded and they began again. Shaw stepped off the stairs and went tumbling through the floor, forever.   
"Shaw! Oh, God, Shaw!" Ian yelled.  
Everyone stood shocked. Suddenly, the rest of the walkway began to crumble under their feet.


	10. The Old North Church

**Disclaimer:**_ I do not own National Treasure, just Elizabeth._

**Chapter Ten**

Riley was the first to act. He jumped from where he was to a walkway below. Abigail and Elizabeth jumped to an elevator. They helped pull up Ben as Shippen jumped on another elevator. Mr. Gates threw his torch to Shippen, who caught it, and jumped on the elevator with him, stumbling into the rope railing. Ian jumped on as well, nearly falling but Shippen steadied him. Ben tried to give Riley the Declaration but one of the elevator ropes snapped and Abigail, Ben, and Elizabeth went plummeting down until the other elevator rope stopped them just as abruptly. The sudden force sent Elizabeth tumbling off the elevator. She plummeted down, but managed to grab the side of the walkway but was unable pull herself up. Abigail slid off the edge of the elevator but Ben grabbed her. The Declaration was now in peril of falling off the edge.

 "Get down there! Get down there!" Mr. Gates yelled to Shippen who was trying to get the elevator to move.   
"The Declaration." Abigail whispered.  
 Ben glanced over at it, balancing dangerously on the edge.  
 "Do you trust me?" he asked her quietly.   
"Yes." she answered immediately.

 As the elevator kept swinging, he let go of Abigail when she was over a ledge and dove for the Declaration, just as it was about to fall off the elevator. He quickly slung it over his shoulder but part of the floor broke off and he tumbled off but managed to grab at the edge of the elevator. The board began to falls off as he watched the nails fall out but a rope suddenly appeared. He looked up to see his father holding on and he grabbed the rope and was able to swing over to a walkway.

 Meanwhile, Riley raced over to where Elizabeth was, still hanging on for dear life. She scrambled to get a better grip and pulled herself up but the board she grabbed wrenched free causing her to fall back and hang on by only a hand as she swung wildly about. Riley ran over and gripped her arm. She looked up at him, terrified.   
"I won't drop you." he said.  
 She nodded her head as he pulled her up. Once onto safe ground, she threw herself into his arms and buried her head in the crook of his neck. He gently rubbed her back soothingly. 

Riley began to walk with Elizabeth still latched onto him for dear life over to Ben and Abigail.  
 "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I dropped you. I had to save the Declaration." Ben rambled to Abigail.   
"No, don't be. I would have done exactly the same thing to you." she said seriously.  
 "Really?" he asked, pleasantly surprised.  
 "I would have dropped you both. Freaks." Riley said, walking down a small flight of stairs, carrying Elizabeth down them. Once at the bottom, he set her on her feet but she still clung to his arm.   
"Elizabeth, are you alright?" Abigail asked walking over to her sister.  
 "Oh, I nearly died. I'm perfectly alright though. Thanks for asking." came the muffled reply. 

Shippen lowered the elevator with Ian and Mr. Gates on it, down to where Abigail, Ben, Elizabeth, and Riley were.  
 "Get on." Ian commanded them.   
"Ian... it's not worth it." Ben began.   
"Do you imagine any one of your lives is more valuable to me than Shaw's?" he snapped. Elizabeth tried to raise her hand but Riley yanked it back down. "We go on."  
 "The status quo. Keep the status quo." Mr. Gates said softly to Ben. 

Ben nodded his head affirmatively.  They all got on the elevator and Shippen lowered it until they came to a place in the walkway where the landing was much wider.   
"Now what?" Riley asked.  
 "This is... This is where it all leads." Mr. Gates murmured.  
 Ben threw a rope attached to the elevator around a peg and pulled the elevator closer to the landing. He took a torch from Abigail and walked off the elevator.   
"Okay, let's go." he said.  
 He walked down a short, dusty hallway, filled with cobwebs galore. He walked around a small room, lighting a lantern while everyone filed in. The room was octagonal shaped with what appeared to be windows cemented up with pictures carved over them. The room was empty save for the lantern. 

"What is this?" Riley asked.  
 "So where's the treasure?" Shippen asked looking around the meager room.  
 "Well?" Ian asked expectantly.  
 "This is it? We came all this way for a dead end?!" Riley asked, his voice rising with each word.   
"Yes." Ben stated as though in a stupor.  
 "There's gotta be something more." Riley said, disbelieving that this was it.  
 "Riley, there's nothing more." Ben snapped, his calm mask beginning to slip.   
"Another clue, or..." Riley began to say.   
"No, there are no more clues! That's it, okay? It's over! End of the road. The treasure's gone. Moved. Taken somewhere else." Ben shrieked, looking lost and defeated.   
"You're not playing games with me, are you, Ben? Hm? You know where it is." Ian said walking up to him.   
"No." Ben muttered, completely defeated.  
 "Okay, go." he said to Shippen. 

The two men quickly dashed out to the elevator.   
"Hey, wait a minute." Ben said, quickly following them.   
Everyone else followed Ben out uttering the same thought.  Ian untied the knot holding the elevator still and Shippen took it up a bit but stopped.  
 "Don't do this." Ben said, trying to calm him down.  
 "...Isaac. Please." Elizabeth murmured.  
 Ian looked at her for moment but snapped his eyes away quickly.   
"You can't just leave us here." Abigail said.  
 "Yes, I can. Unless Ben tells me the next clue." Ian replied calmly.   
"There isn't another clue." Ben said, exasperated.   
"Ian, why don't you come back down here and we can talk through this together?" Riley reasoned.  
 Ben placed a hand on Riley's shoulder as if to say _'Shut up!'_   
"Don't speak again." Ian stressed each word, pointing a gun at Riley. 

He gulped, "Okay."  
 Elizabeth smacked him lightly but slipped her hand into his and gave him a reassuring squeeze.  
 "The clue. Where's the treasure?" Ian asked. He turned the gun to Ben. "Ben?"  
 He didn't say anything quick enough so Ian cocked the gun.  
 "The lantern." Mr. Gates said quickly.   
"Dad..." Ben said softly.   
"The status quo has changed, son."  
 "Don't." Ben pleaded quietly.

 Mr. Gates turned to look at Ian who in turn lowered the gun.   
"It's part of Free Mason teachings. In King Solomon's temple, there was a winding staircase. It signified the journey that had to be made to find the light of truth. The lantern is the clue." he said.  
 "And what does that mean?" Ian asked.  
 "Boston. It's Boston." Ben conceded.  
"The Old North Church in Boston, where Thomas Newton hung a lantern in the steeple, to signal Paul Revere that the British were coming. One if by land, two if by sea. One lantern. Under the winding staircase of the steeple, that's where we have to look."  Mr. Gates clarified.  
"Thank you." Ian said with fake earnestness.  
 "Hey, you have to take us with you." Mr. Gates said quickly.   
"Why? So you can escape in Boston? Besides, with you out of the picture there's less baggage to carry." Ian replied smartly.   
"What if we lied?" Mr. Gates challenged him.   
"Did you?" he asked and pointed the gun at him.   
"What if there's another clue?" Ben asked him.  
 "Then I'll know right where to find you. See you, Ben." he said, and Shippen raised the elevator.   
"No!" Ben exclaimed.  
 "There's no other way out!" Riley shouted.  
 "Come back!" Elizabeth meekly cried out.  
 "You're gonna need us, Ian!" Abigail called out.  
 "We're all gonna die." Riley muttered.

 "It's gonna be okay, Riley. I'm sorry I yelled at you." Ben said and patted his shoulder as he moved to go back into the room.   
"It's okay, kiddo." Mr. Gates said and followed Ben.  
 The sisters looked at each other and followed as well, Elizabeth pulling Riley with her.   
"Okay, boys, what's going on? The British came by sea." Abigail stated.  
" It was two lanterns, not one." Elizabeth clarified.  
 "Ian needed another clue, so we gave it to him." Mr. Gates replied nonchalantly moving about the room looking for anything.  
"It was a fake. It was a fake clue." Riley said feeling a bit reassured.  
 Ben continued to run his hands over the wall until he came to a carving of the all-seeing eye.   
"The all-seeing eye. _'Through the all-seeing eye.'_" he mumbled.  
 "That means... by the time Ian figures it out and comes back here, we'll still be trapped, and he'll shoot us then. Either way, we're gonna die." Riley figured. He gulped and looked about nervously.  
 "Nobody's gonna die. There's another way out." Ben said triumphantly.   
"Where?" Riley asked.  
 "Through the treasure room."


	11. The Treasure Room

**Disclaimer:**_I do not own National Treasure, just Elizabeth._

**Chapter Eleven**

Ben pushed a button on the wall and a section of the wall pushed back. Wind blasted from the slight openings on the sides. The dust settled and Ben handed his torch to Abigail and he and his father pushed the stone to one side. Abigail handed his torch back to him and they all entered into the treasure room... At least, what was _supposed_ to be the treasure room: but there was nothing there. All that was there were a couple of broken vases, crates and other objects, completely worthless. Mr. Gates went around the room and lit the torches as Ben stood in the middle, completely horrified. 

"Looks like someone got here first." Riley said, gazing around sadly.  
 "...Aww man... This was **so** not worth nearly dyeing for..." Elizabeth whispered.  
 "I'm sorry, Ben." Abigail murmured.  
 "It's gone..." Ben muttered, turning towards his father.   
"Listen, Ben..." he began.  
 "It may even have been gone before Charles Carroll told the story to Thomas Gates." Ben said.  
 "It doesn't matter." Mr. Gates said.  
 "I know. 'Cause you were right." Ben says, defeated.  
 "No, I wasn't right. This room is real, Ben. And that means the treasure is real. We're in the company of some of the most brilliant minds in history, because **you** found what they left behind for us to find and understood the meaning of it. You did it, Ben. For all of us. Your grandfather, and all of us. And I've never been so happy to be proven wrong." Mr. Gates said proudly.  
 "I just... really thought I was gonna find the treasure." Ben muttered.  
 "Okay. Then we just keep looking for it." he replied.

 Abigail looked at her sister. Elizabeth grinned in response.   
"We're in." Abigail said firmly.  
 "Okay." Ben said, feeling a bit better.  
 "Not to be Johnny Rain Cloud here, but that's not gonna happen. Because as far as I can see, we're still trapped down here. Now, Ben, where is this other way out?" Riley interjected, sitting on a stone bench by the entryway.   
"Well, that's it. It doesn't make any sense, because the first thing the builders would have done after getting down here was cut a secondary shaft back out for air." Ben said, glancing around.  
 "Right." his father agreed.  
 "...and in case of cave-ins." Ben murmured, walking around the walls. He ran his hand over a slight hole in the wall with a little hole below it. Everyone walked over.  
 "Could it really be that simple?" he whispered, taking out the meerschaum pipe. "_'The secret lies with Charlotte.'_" 

He fit the intricate ship carving into the big hole and then the pipe part in the little hole. It all clicked in and he turned it until it stopped and he pushed it in. Another big gust of wind came flying from another entranceway and a door slid open.  Riley stood up and walked up next to Elizabeth. Abigail took a deep breath and put her hand on Ben's shoulder. Mr. Gates walked over to the door and disappeared into it. Elizabeth and Riley followed with Ben trailing them. 

The treasure room: golden statues, ancient scrolls, and treasure stacked up to the ceiling line the entire room. Elizabeth walked over to a table with a book on it. She picked it up and looked at the title, nearly dropping it in surprise.

 "Archimedes: this is his original work. I thought it was... was lost. Oh my god..." she whispered, holding the book to her chest gently.   
"Scrolls from the library at Alexandria. Could this be possible?" Abigail said, gazing in wonderment at a bunch of ancient scrolls.   
Riley walked over to a giant, Egyptian, green statue.  "It's a big... bluish- green, man, with a strange-looking goatee. I'm guessing that's significant." Riley murmured and hugged the statue.  
 Elizabeth came out of her revelry and gently set the book down and walked over to him. He smiled and hugged her as well.   
She squealed. "EW! You're covered in dust!" He just laughed good-naturedly.

Ben walked up to a stand with a bowl in it. He lifted up a black powder and realized it was gunpowder. He put his torch on it and it snapped to life. Flames shot down a ramp into the dark. Soon, the flames revealed a large cavern, filled with treasure.  They all walked over to a balcony and stared in awe. 

"Yes!" Mr. Gates exclaimed, clapping Ben on the back.  
 Elizabeth began to bounce on her heals until she couldn't stop herself. She let out a squeal of happiness and launched herself on Riley. He quickly wrapped his arms around her so she wouldn't fall but froze as she kissed him. He returned her kiss but she slid off him and gave her sister a big hug. Riley touched his lips but grinned happily. He looked out over the treasure until he spotted the best thing he had seen so far: stairs.  
 "Riley, are you crying?" Abigail asked him, as she untangled herself from a giddy Elizabeth who shot down the stairs and started to soak it all up.   
"Look... stairs." he murmured and wiped his eyes.

They all followed Elizabeth down the stairs and followed the path up to the stairs, but not before gazing at all the wonderful sights. They carefully climbed the rickety steps and crawled through a tunnel until they got to a dead end. Ben began to kick his way through until he broke through to the boiler room, scaring a poor older janitor who was holding the hand of poor Parkington Lane.

"Hi. Do you have a cell phone I could borrow?" Ben asked the man.   
The man was shaken up but handed him his cell phone. Ben went off to talk to Agent Sadusky while Abigail and Elizabeth assured the man they weren't zombies and what they were doing down there.  
 "Really sir, there's a treasure down there. We're treasure hunters and we tracked it here so don't worry." Abigail said to assuage the man's fears.  
 "There aren't going to be any more 'treasure hunters' popping out of tombs are there?" he asked nervously.  
 "No, sir. Don't worry. Really. Now, you'll probably have a lot of men coming here and they'll probably be excavating this place so you might want to get the man who owns this church." Elizabeth said.  
 "Al-Alright." he said and scampered off quickly.  
 "Poor guy. I think we scared him half to death." Mr. Gates murmured.  
 "Wonder if he's off to call the police and have us put in the loony-bin..." Riley mused.  
 "Alright guys, the FBI is on their way here so let's go upstairs and wait for them." Ben said, coming out from behind a boiler.

 Everyone nodded and went up the stairs. Riley and Elizabeth slid into a pew together. Riley pulled Elizabeth onto his lap and she snuggled against his body, sighing contentedly: she was so tire all of a sudden. Abigail and Mr. Gates slid into a pew right behind them while Ben sat up in front of the altar of the church. Fifteen minutes went by until they heard the doors open and agents streamed in, guns drawn. Several surrounded Abigail, Elizabeth, Mr. Gates, and Riley while Agent Sadusky walked up the aisle towards Ben. 

He stood up and handed him the Declaration.   
"Just like that?" he asked Ben.   
"Just like that." Ben replied.  
 "You do know you just handed me your biggest bargaining chip?" Sadusky asked him incredulously.   
"The Declaration of Independence is not a bargaining chip. Not to me." Ben said firmly.  
 "Have a seat." Sadusky said, and they both sat down on the steps to the altar. "So what's your offer?" he asked.  
 "How about a bribe? Say... ten billion dollars." Ben offered.  
 "I take it you found the treasure?" Sadusky asked.  
 "It's about five stories beneath your shoes." Ben said, glancing down at the floor.  
 "You know, the Templars and the Freemasons believed that the treasure was too great for any one man to have, not even a king. That's why they went to such lengths to keep it hidden." he said, gazing about the church.   
Ben stared at Sadusky's pinky ring, with the Masonic symbols on it. "That's right. The Founding Fathers believed the same thing about government. I figure their solution will work for the treasure too." Ben said.  
 "Give it to the people." Sadusky surmised.  
 "Divide it amongst the Smithsonian, the Louvre, the Cairo museum... There's thousands of years of world history down there. And it belongs to the world, and everybody in it." Ben finished.  
 "You really don't understand the concept of a bargaining chip." Sadusky said chuckling.  
 "Okay, here's what I want. Both Dr. Chases' get off completely clean, not even a little Post-it on their service records." Ben started.  
 "Okay." Sadusky said.  
 "I want the credit for the find to go to the entire Gates family, with the assistance of Mr. Riley Poole." Ben continued.  
 "And what about you?" Sadusky asked him.   
"I'd really love not to go to prison. I can't even describe how much I would love not to go to prison." Ben muttered.   
"Someone's got to go to prison, Ben." Sadusky replied.  
 "Well, if you've got a helicopter, I think I can help with that." Ben said.  
 "Alright, where to?" Sadusky asked.  
 "Boston. To the Old North Church."  
 "Alright, well, are you the only one going?" Sadusky asked him.  
Ben looked out to his friends and father. Everyone shook their heads 'No' except for Elizabeth, who was sleeping.  
 "Just me."   
"Sounds like a plan." Sadusky said.

 They both got up and walked towards everyone else.   
"Alright, I need a helicopter to Boston, now. We'll get you guys a hotel to stay in until further arrangements can be made." Sadusky commanded.  
 Everyone nodded and began to get up and walk towards the exit while Sadusky gave orders for immediate retrieval of the treasure, plans for Boston, and where the others will be staying.  
 Riley gently lifted an unconscious Elizabeth and stood up. He went to take a step, only he slipped. 

  "Hey, Riley, you okay?" Ben asked him.  
 Riley quickly laid Elizabeth down on the bench and bent down to see what it was he slipped in. He paled considerably and stood up slowly, lifting up his hand, which was drenched in blood. He accidentally bumped Elizabeth and she whimpered weakly. Abigail came over and gasped at all the blood. Sadusky quickly ordered an ambulance while Riley frantically tried to stop the bleeding. 

_So, Archimedes was this first century math mathematician, who wrote this awesome book with all his research in it. Some monk who had run out of paper rewrote over top of it, loosing most of the original text. He was a genius. Experts speculate that if his work hadn't of been lost, humankind would be technologically a couple centuries advanced than what we are now. So yeah, that's why Elizabeth is so awe-struck. Thought I'd explain if you don't know who he was._


	12. Goodbyes

**Disclaimer:**_I do not own National Treasure, just Elizabeth._

**Chapter Twelve**

All Elizabeth would remember about the next week would be snapshots she didn't understand. The first was in the ambulance: people passing bags of blood over her prostrate form. Then she was being pushed past doors that said 'ER' on them. The next was a mask being put over her mouth and nose.

She dreamed for a bit. She and Riley were cuddling on a couch when she felt pricks in her arms. Riley disappeared and she felt different arms envelop her; they were Ian's. The scene shifted abruptly to the deserts of Egypt. She felt as if she was being sucked into the ground. The last thing she saw before the sands enveloped her was a retreating Riley, Abigail, and Ben... Then, the pictures came back.

A pure white room surrounded her body. Her senses slowly came back as well; she smelled flowers and tears, she felt a hand in hers at all times, and mumbles. The last picture she saw was of a hopeful Riley before her eyes slid close again and she knew no more.

  To say that Ian was angry would be a rather big understatement. He was livid to the point where he would forget to breathe; his hatred for Ben, Riley, and the Chase sisters was so intense. He was sitting in a government-holding cell, all to his lonesome self: not that a holding pen with other criminals would be any better, but in his current rage, he didn't care. All he could think about was how to exact his revenge. Oh, it would be diabolical, and tear them apart at the seams. It would be grand and he would love every minute of it. But, first thing was first: how to escape the Federal government...  

Abigail was an emotional wreck. Her sister had come close to dying from blood loss, but luckily, they were able to stop the bleeding. It really was only a matter of time until Elizabeth woke up. Nevertheless, the waiting was killing her. She glanced up through her fingers at Riley. He had fallen asleep in the chair next to Elizabeth's bed. He had been holding her hand since she had gotten in the bed. That was seven days ago. She sighed and sat, up disturbing Ben from his sleep next to her. Ben had been lying on a cot with Abigail sitting with her legs over the edge. 

"You should really get some sleep. Riley will wake us if she wakes with his loud mouth. Please?" Ben asked her softly.  
 Ben had been watching Abigail and Riley wither away while they watched Elizabeth intently. He remembered when Elizabeth had opened her eyes for a moment yesterday but had closed them lazily. Riley just sat there but Abigail had burst into tears. It took so much persuasion to get either one to eat, sleep, or take care of themselves that he was exhausted.  
 "Alright." Abigail murmured.  
 She lay down next to him and closed her eyes.  
 _'Please wake up soon Elizabeth, I can't handle not seeing your smiling face anymore.'_  

Elizabeth was in dreamland again. Her dreams were ominous and frightening, but she couldn't escape them. Ian kept popping up everywhere with a sadistic grin. Her mind tortured her with images of her loved ones being shot and thrown in jail on false charges. Elizabeth's fevered brain was slowly losing itself to the images, ripping her away from reality.

  Riley awoke with a start. Elizabeth's hand felt like it was on fire, which couldn't mean anything good. He quickly felt her forehead but pulled his hand away quickly. She was burning up! Her face was flushed and her mouth was open, panting for breath. He raced out of the room calling for a doctor. Abigail and Ben awake to a scene of pandemonium. The three friends were shooed out of the room while doctors began to rush back and forth with ice to try to cool Elizabeth down. 

It wasn't working.   
Elizabeth slipped on into another existence.

_Well that's it for this story, BUT don't kill me just yet. I have a sequel, which is finished. I'll start posting tomorrow. On a happy note, I've just recently found a script for Book of Secrets so I'm going to start writing that up. I hope you guys all enjoyed Treasure and a Cute Techie aka Success! Thanks for all the reviews!_


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